AST SpaceMobile’s UK direct-to-cell plans use Vodafone spectrum

AST SpaceMobile’s UK direct-to-cell plans pair Vodafone spectrum with Ofcom trial conditions and beam shutdown commitments.

AST SpaceMobile has notified the FCC of planned non-US direct-to-cell operations in the UK with Vodafone. The filing, dated 11 August 2026, identifies the mobile spectrum intended for service and attaches an Ofcom demonstration and trial licence.

The documents describe a tightly controlled operating arrangement. Vodafone supplies licensed mobile spectrum. AST SpaceMobile supplies the satellite system and commits to deactivate beams if verified harmful interference occurs.

No commercial service date appears in the filing. The Ofcom trial licence also does not authorise commercial use.

Vodafone spectrum anchors AST SpaceMobile’s UK filing

AST SpaceMobile submitted the notice under a condition of its FCC authorisation for a 248-satellite low-Earth-orbit system supporting direct-to-cell, or D2C, operations. The company identifies the UK as the sole non-US market in this particular filing, naming Vodafone as its mobile network operator partner.

The proposed operational service uses 880.1–885.1 MHz for uplink communications and 925.1–930.1 MHz for downlink communications. AST also identifies separate test bands: 892.1–897.1 MHz for uplink and 937.1–942.1 MHz for downlink.

The spectrum arrangement places the mobile operator’s existing licence at the centre of the service design. AST’s submission says D2C operations will remain limited to spectrum licensed exclusively to its mobile network operator partner in the country of operation.

A different network layer handles the satellite backhaul. AST says its D2C system will use authorised gateway earth stations, including Goonhilly Downs in the UK, with feeder downlinks at 37.5–42 GHz. The filing lists feeder uplinks outside the US at 45.5–47 GHz, 47.2–50.2 GHz, and 50.4–51.4 GHz.

That division is practical. Mobile spectrum carries the link to handsets, then gateway infrastructure connects satellite capacity back into terrestrial networks.

Ofcom’s public D2D conditions require documentation

Vodafone and Three UK-owner Hutchison – which are merging their UK operations – hold Public Wireless Network Licence 1388560/3. Schedule 4, amended on 10 April 2026, defines direct-to-device services as wireless communications provided through a mobile satellite system that lets terrestrial users send and receive radio signals directly to and from a space station.

The licence allows D2D service only in the 880.1–885.1 MHz uplink block and the 925.1–930.1 MHz downlink block. It requires the licensees to ensure that the service does not cause or contribute to harmful interference to wireless telegraphy.

Before providing D2D services, the licensees must secure contractual provisions requiring the satellite operator to meet conditions in the schedule. The terms must remain in force throughout the service.

Ofcom requires the licensees to retain coverage maps showing predicted power flux density on the ground for the best-serving beam. Those maps must use 100-metre by 100-metre pixels. Aggregate maps must show the power flux density from all beams across the UK at the same resolution.

The requirements extend outside intended coverage areas. The licence calls for maps of unwanted transmissions up to 100 kilometres from service-area boundaries, alongside out-of-block and out-of-band spectrum masks for each beam. Ofcom can request the records, and operators must keep date-stamped historical versions when information changes.

The public D2D licence prohibits a satellite used for the service from transmitting to a UK location below a 10-degree elevation angle. It also caps aggregate space-station power at the Earth’s surface at -119 dBW/MHz/m² for frequencies outside the permitted blocks.

No protection from interference applies to D2D service. The licence states that the service must not cause undue interference to other authorised users, and it cannot claim protection from interference received from another authorised device or service.

The Ofcom authorisation is a time-limited trial

Ofcom issued Demonstration & Trial Licence 1418602/1 to Vodafone on 24 July 2026. Schedule 2 states that the licence runs until 30 September 2026 and identifies its purpose as demonstrating satellite direct-to-mobile-device capability.

The licence covers a UK-wide base-station entry and permits an omnidirectional antenna with zero dB gain. It lists a maximum ERP of 0.32 dBW. The scheduled transmitting frequencies are 894.6 MHz and 939.6 MHz, each with a 5 MHz channel width.

AST’s FCC attachment associates that licence with tests in the wider 892.1–897.1 MHz and 937.1–942.1 MHz bands. Its attachment describes the Ofcom authorisation as renewable. The trial licence itself says it is not renewable and can operate for a maximum of 12 months unless Ofcom revokes it or Vodafone surrenders it.

The end date controls the present authorisation. The documents do not establish permanent commercial access to the test bands.

Ofcom defines the licence’s “non-operational” status as non-commercial and unrelated to providing services or selling goods. Vodafone must check, as far as reasonably possible, whether a proposed frequency is already in use before it transmits.

The trial conditions direct the operator to transmit only for the minimum duration necessary for the project. They also require use under suppressed-radiation conditions where possible. Where that cannot occur, Vodafone must operate at the minimum power required and stay within the authorised maximum.

AST’s European testing campaign provides wider context

AST SpaceMobile said earlier this month that network-integration testing activities were under way across the UK, Ireland, Romania, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, and Ukraine. The company named Vodafone, Orange, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, and Vodafone Ukraine as collaborating mobile network operators.

Chris Ivory, CCO of AST SpaceMobile, said: “Working alongside many of the world’s leading mobile network operators, we are advancing activities across multiple countries to become a seamless complementary layer of connectivity alongside existing terrestrial networks.

“Together, we are building a future where everyday smartphones remain connected in more places, providing a layer of resilient connectivity for consumers, businesses, first responders, and governments.”

Those activities remain subject to regulatory approvals. The company says Satellite Connect Europe will provide European-wide gateway infrastructure. Satellite Connect Europe is a Luxembourg-headquartered joint venture between AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone.

The UK filing provides a document-level view of one part of that activity. It connects the operator relationship, the frequency ranges, a temporary test authorisation, and the conditions attached to an eventual public D2D service.

AST says its satellites integrate with terrestrial mobile networks through standard 3GPP technologies and connect with standard, unmodified smartphones. The company also says its next-generation satellites use phased arrays of approximately 2,400 square feet, or 223 square metres.

AST reports that its initial Block 1 BlueBird satellites reached peak download speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones. That figure does not appear in the Ofcom licence or the FCC notice, and neither document describes production coverage, customer availability, service quality, or handset compatibility.

Of course, testing authorisation does not equal production readiness. The current UK trial licence permits a non-commercial demonstration under defined radio controls until 30 September 2026.

Beam shutdown is an operational requirement

AST SpaceMobile tells the FCC that it and its mobile network operator partners have assessed the planned operations for harmful interference to authorised co-frequency and adjacent-frequency services. The assessment also covers cross-border operations, the filing says.

The company commits to providing 24-hour stop-buzzer contact information for a SpaceMobile Network Operations Centre to national licensing administrations and potentially affected operators. The submission does not identify the centre’s location or set out its escalation process.

AST does describe one response action. It says satellite transmission beams covering an affected area will be deactivated after notification and verification of harmful interference from D2C operations.

That commitment fits the Ofcom public licence’s emphasis on geographical controls. The UK conditions require coverage mapping, records of emissions outside service areas, coordination calculations, and compliance with future coordination or sharing procedures notified by Ofcom.

Future coverage ambitions should be separated from the permissions now on record. The Ofcom demonstration licence enables temporary, non-commercial tests. The public D2D licence conditions describe the radio, record-keeping, and coordination obligations that Vodafone and its satellite-system provider must meet to provide service in the 880.1–885.1 MHz and 925.1–930.1 MHz bands.

AST SpaceMobile’s filing puts one operational safeguard in writing: affected UK satellite beams will be deactivated after harmful interference receives notification and verification.

See also: FCC examines unlicensed spectrum for satellite D2D

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